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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27377335">Maybe You Can Do It, Too</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/xxxbookaholic/pseuds/xxxbookaholic'>xxxbookaholic</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Line Between Past And Present (Mastermind Shuichi Universe) [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Different Mastermind (Dangan Ronpa), Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Dreams, Flashbacks, Fluff and Angst, Getting to Know Each Other, M/M, Mastermind Saihara Shuichi, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Only Kind of - Freeform, Post-Canon, Pre-Game Personalities (New Dangan Ronpa V3), Songfic, Virtual Reality, a mix between pre relationship and established relationship, i guess it counts as a songfic, it isnt official, kind of, they dont sing, vr au</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 18:07:52</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,807</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27377335</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/xxxbookaholic/pseuds/xxxbookaholic</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It wasn’t unusual for Shuichi to dream about his life before the killing game. Half of his nights were usually spent like this, sitting side by side with the Ouma that wasn’t quite Ouma anymore and watching the sunrise. </p><p>or</p><p>Shuichi is trying to replace his memories with pre-killing game Kokichi with new memories, he really is, but it's tough when all he can dream about is a life without the label 'ultimate'. (He tries anyways.)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Oma Kokichi/Saihara Shuichi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Line Between Past And Present (Mastermind Shuichi Universe) [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1998058</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>88</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Maybe You Can Do It, Too</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>T/W: This references suicide! It's mild and used in a joking manner (damn you kokichi) but I just thought you should be aware!<br/>This is a continuation of my mastermind shuichi series and I recommend you read the other fics first. The song used in this fanfiction is 16 / 04 / 16 (Jack's Song) by Cavetown. I recommend listening to it while you read!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>╔═━────━▒ ۞ ▒━────━═╗</p><p>
  <em>“I remember the view out the back of the car,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>left the front door wide open. Maybe it’s a sign that we shouldn’t be going.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I didn’t realize it’d be so hard.”</em>
</p><p>╚═━────━▒ ۞ ▒━────━═╝</p><p>   It wasn’t unusual for Shuichi to dream about his life before the killing game. Half of his nights were usually spent like this, sitting side by side with the Ouma that wasn’t quite Ouma anymore and watching the sunrise.</p><p>   “<em>What are your opinions on season forty-nine so far</em>?” <em>Shuichi asked</em>. (This wasn’t what he wanted to talk about, but he couldn’t stop himself. After all, this was just a memory; something that had happened once and would never happen again.)</p><p><em>   Ouma didn’t look at him when he responded. Usually, he was a stickler for eye contact, but that rule never seemed to apply when they were watching the sky. He always seemed entranced by the beauty of it. At the time, Shuichi couldn’t understand why he was so interested in a few well-blended colors. </em>(Now, all he wanted to do was take Ouma’s hand and tell him, “yes! Yes, I understand. Let’s do this more often; I love being here with you.”) (The longing was fruitless. No matter how much he tried, he’d never be able to tell him how he felt.)</p><p>   <em>“Mina is cool. ‘Ultimate Painter’ has a nice ring to it. Plus, she seems really creative!” Shuichi didn’t say anything to that. In his opinion, Mina was the most boring character out of the whole cast. He didn’t tell Ouma, though. For a reason he couldn’t explain, he couldn’t bring himself to snap his friend out of the spell that seemed to be cast over him.</em></p><p>
  <em>   Shuichi’s phone buzzed in his pocket but he ignored it. His aunt was over for the holidays; she probably just noticed he was gone and panicked. It wasn’t like she’d call the police or anything. At worst, she’d text his parents, as if they cared. What could two good-for-nothings do when they were a whole sea away?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>   Ouma didn’t have the same mentality. He finally turned around, looking at Shuichi directly. “Shouldn’t you answer that?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>   “It’s just my aunt,” Shuichi said, like that explained everything. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>   “You shouldn’t make her worry,” he said, turning away again to watch the pink-and-red sky. “She seemed really sweet when I met her!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>   Shuichi scoffed. “If she was all that sweet, maybe she’d take to looking after me herself. She has no right to care about where I am.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>   Ouma sighed but didn’t argue. He must have known it was useless. They were silent for a long while, the only sound being the whooshing of December wind. He was the one to break the silence, yet again. “Why did you come out with me? You know you don’t have to; I don’t want to interrupt your night.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>   “I wanted to come,” Shuichi said simply. “Why did you come out in the first place? There’s nothing but snow out here.” A snowflake fell onto his nose, as if proving his point.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>   “The morning sky is like art,” he said, like he always did when Shuichi asked. “I never want to miss it. Plus, the cold is nice!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>   “It’s nice until you get sick and demand for me to bring you soup in bed.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>   Ouma giggled at that, kicking his legs. They were on top of the tallest tree they could find, clinging onto the branch so they didn’t tumble to the ground. “Do you really hate nursing me back to help that much?”</em>
</p><p>(“No,” Shuichi wanted to cut in, “I don’t mind your neediness! I’m happy to help, really!)</p><p>   <em>Shuichi didn’t say anything else.</em></p><p>╔═━────━▒ ۞ ▒━────━═╗</p><p>
  <em>“You and me, sitting on the trampoline.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I think one time we fell asleep.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Woke up and felt like it had been weeks,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>and now it truly has been.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Forgive yourself.”</em>
</p><p>╚═━────━▒ ۞ ▒━────━═╝</p><p>   The morning after that dream was exhausting. Just getting up was exhausting; his whole hospital room seemed hotter. Shuichi was sweating, his T-shirt clinging to his chest. He just wanted to be alone for a while; the nurses, doctors, and white walls made him feel like he was suffocating.</p><p>   Apparently, being alone wasn’t on the agenda.</p><p>   Kokichi shoved the door open at exactly eleven a.m. “How could you leave me all alone in the dining hall? You’re so mean!” He accused the moment he walked in, crocodile tears already prepared and fists already clenched.</p><p>   Shuichi raised an eyebrow. “It definitely didn’t affect you enough to make you cry.”</p><p>   The tears were gone before they even fell. “Oh, looks like you’ve caught me again! Ultimate Detective or not, you sure are attentive.”</p><p>   “Or you just make it easy for me,” Shuichi points out. Kokichi says nothing to that, just crosses his arms and tilts his head away.</p><p>   “Really, though, Shumai, where were you?” He collapsed onto the end of the bed, limbs sprawled out over the blankets.</p><p>   Shuichi didn’t answer that question. (He was getting pretty good at ignoring questions.) “Do you like watching the sunrise?” He asked instead.</p><p>   Luckily, Kokichi took the bait. <em>Or he just let it go, </em>a part of his brain supplied. “Ohohoho! What’s this? Does Saihara-chan really want to get to know a liar like me?” He half-sat up and rested his chin in between his hands. “Bold move, mister detective, but alas! It’ll take more than a survey to understand the one and only Supreme Leader, <em>Kokichi Ouma</em>. Although I must say, that’s such a boring question! Seriously, you could have asked anything and you chose that?”</p><p>   They held eye contact for a total of five seconds before Shuichi tugged his hat over his eyes. “Supreme leader of what? Your imaginary gang?”</p><p>   Kokichi gasped. “That’s so rude, Shumai! DICE is very much real!” He played it off overdramatically, but Shuichi could see how hurt he was by the statement in his eyes; under the twinkling of a thousand stars and galaxies was a layer of melancholy. Everybody in the cast of Danganronpa season fifty-three had it. It was the part of them that knew in the grand scheme of things, none of them were real anymore. They were figments of a fan’s imagination, nothing more than a bunch of predictable anime characters. (<em>Almost all of them were</em>, Shuichi added unhelpfully.)</p><p>   “Sure, sure. I’ll remember that when I’m looking through your government files.”</p><p>   They were quiet for a little bit, unsure of how to continue an already dead conversation, and then Shuichi repeated his question, “do you like watching the sunrise?”</p><p>   Kokichi did answer this time. (Whether or not he answered truly, however, was beyond him.) “No! It’s <em>so</em> boring!” Before Shuichi could feel disappointed (and then guilty for feeling disappointed), he added, “but sometimes, when I wake up really early and can’t go back to sleep, I look out my window. The stars are kind of cool. They remind me of the 10,000 villainous members in my secret evil organization!”</p><p>   It was close enough.</p><p>   “I wonder if they’d let us go out on the roof if we agreed to having supervision,” Shuichi said. Kokichi’s expression went blank for just a second, and then he went back to smiling and lying like it never happened.</p><p>   “Sure! They probably wouldn’t really care if we jumped, I guess. Didn’t know you were into lover’s suicide, though!”</p><p>   <em>Lovers? </em>“I’m not trying to get myself killed,” Shuichi replied, leaning back on his elbows. “It’s just kind of hard to see the stars when we’re looking out a tiny window that my hand can barely fit through.”</p><p>   “Wow, you finally said something smart!” Kokichi giggled, finger going over his mouth in a gesture Shuichi was all-too-familiar with. “But that’s a lie, of course, since you’re always saying smart things.”</p><p>   “Which one was the lie?”</p><p>   “That’s for me to know, and for you to find out.”</p><p>   Shuichi laughed despite himself. “Why are you so interested in my opinion on a dumb sky, anyways?” Kokichi inquired, leaning even farther forward as if even an inch of his body was curious.</p><p>   “I was just thinking.”</p><p>   “You’re going to have to be more specific, Shumai. Thinking about what? The meaning of life? Why people always celebrate Christmas in October? What the big deal with Miu’s degrading kink is?”</p><p>   Shuichi chose to ignore the last comment.</p><p>   “I was just thinking about how this hospital is so similar to a cage. They aren’t even letting us get fresh air; that’s kind of messed up if you ask me.”</p><p>   Kokichi inspected his nails boredly, “that’s what we get for making such an irresponsible decision. Really, I must have been really dumb before the killing game!”</p><p>   Shuichi bristled at the insult. “He wasn’t dumb,” he grumbled, looking down dejectedly.</p><p>   “It seems like <em>you’re</em> the liar now!”</p><p>   Shuichi didn’t say anything else about it. He just leaned back, closing his eyes. Kokichi was silent, too. Pretty soon, it was almost like he wasn’t even in the room anymore. (Maybe he wasn’t. Maybe he left.)</p><p>   Shuichi didn’t feel like getting up and checking. (<em>Would he have if it was the Ouma from before the killing game</em>? He wondered before he could stop himself.)</p><p>   “I do admit, it’s kind of weird that you’re constantly comparing me to… myself, really,” Kokichi suddenly said, breaking the illusion.</p><p>   Shuichi leaned upwards, opening his eyes and facing his friend(?) directly.</p><p>   “But if that’s what is helping you right now, then I can’t get angry at you for it. Although, I <em>can</em> send one-hundred horsemen to chop off your head in retaliation.”</p><p>   Shuichi sighed, lifting his hat up and setting it on the side of his bed. “I’m sorry.”</p><p>   “I’m sure someday, I’ll make such a big impression on you that you won’t even <em>remember</em> who I used to be! That’s what a supreme leader does, after all,” Kokichi laughed, hopping up from his place and making his way to the door.</p><p>   “Either that or I’ll kill you first. Whatever works!” And with that, he was gone, disappearing down the hallway and towards who-knows-where.</p><p>   Shuichi glanced over at his hat. The conversation felt unfinished, as if Kokichi had run before it had even begun, but it wasn’t like he was expecting anything different. (That was how he was written to be, after all.)</p><p>   It wasn’t like he resented Kokichi for having changed. (He loved this Kokichi, too, he really did.) Still, he couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to have the Ouma he used to be by his side, holding his hand the whole way and refusing to let go.</p><p>   He glanced out the window, at the bright blue sky, and wondered if maybe Kokichi could hold his hand through everything, too.</p><p>╔═━────━▒ ۞ ▒━────━═╗</p><p>
  <em>“And while you sleep in the pouring rain,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>just know I’ll be with you someday.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>And I’ll have a good one till then,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>just like you told me.”</em>
</p><p>╚═━────━▒ ۞ ▒━────━═╝</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I hope you enjoyed it! I had just been playing minecraft while listening to spotify and then the song this is inspired by decided to sweep me off my feet, lmao. I feel like Kokichi was a little bit out of character in this, so I'm sorry about that. This was all really unplanned. I want to write more scenes with pregame kokichi and shuichi, but I want to make them more of a prequel-like fic than a dream fic. I have a lot of ideas. I also have a lot planned for continuing their rehab and what comes after.</p><p>If you liked the fic, please consider leaving a comment! It really keeps me motivated. My tumblr is xxxbookaholic, if anybody is interested. </p><p>Have a nice rest of your day/night!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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